Class 10 - History
Novels, Society and History
Explain the role of novelists in the field of social reforms in India with the help of any three examples. [CBSE 2014]
(i) The novel Saraswatiuijayam stresses the importance of education for the upliftment of the lower castes.
(ii) The writer of novel Indulekha wanted his readers to appreciate the new values of education and criticise the ignorance.
(iii) Novelist like Munshi Premchand wrote about the poor conditions of peasants and how they were being exploited by the landlords.

Questions and Answers
Explain the role of novelists in the field of social reforms in India with the help of any three examples. [CBSE 2014]
How were the modem Indian novels useful for the Indians in day to day life. [CBSE 2013]
Or
"Indian novelists used the novel as a powerful medium to criticize the defects of the society."Justify the statement with the suitable examples. [CBSE 2013]
Or
Explain any three reasons for making the novel popular in India. [CBSE 2014]
Describe the ways in which the novels in India attempted to create a sense of pan- Indian belonging. [CBSE Sept. 2011, 2014]
Or
"Leading Indian novelists of the 19th century wrote for a National cause". Do you agree with the statement ? Justify your answer. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Or
How did novels fulfill the task of nation building in India ? Explain. [CBSE 2012] Or
How did the novels in India encourage nationalism ? Explain any three points. [CBSE 2010]
What were the issues raised by the novel Indulekha written in Malayalam ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
What led Chandu Menon to write Indulekha ? [CBSE Sept. 2011,2014]
Explain the role of novelists in the field of social reforms in India with the help of any three examples. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Name any two famous Hindi novelists. Also mention the names of the novels written by them.
The novel is an epic of the Indian peasantry and tells the moving story of Hori and his wife, Dhania. Identify the novel. [CBSE. Sept. 2011]
What were the favourite themes to women novelists in India? Explain giving any three examples. [CBSE 2012]
Describe how the issue of caste was included in novels in India. By referring to any two novels, discuss the ways in which they tried to make readers think about existing social issues.
Who was Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer? Mention some features of his writing. [CBSE Sept. 2012]
Explain how the writings of Munshi Premchand promoted the sense of nationalism among the Indians.
Or
How did the novels of Munshi Premchand promote the feeling of nationalism ? Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Who is the author of the novel Sewasadan'? What is the importance of the novel for the Hindi literature ?
How was the sources of entertainment of the old merchant elite of Calcutta different from the new bhadralok ?
Who was the English author who showed the darker side of colonialism in his novels ? [CBSE. Sept.2011]
The novel revolves around Surdas who is visually impaired and belongs to an untouchable caste. Identify the novel.
Which of the following novel was written by Potheri Kunjambu and deals with the caste oppression ? [CBSE. Sept. 2011,12]
Discuss some of the social changes in the nineteenth century Britain which Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens wrote about.
Summarise the concern in both nineteenth- century Europe and India about women reading novels. What does this suggest about how women were viewed ?
Describe the ways in which the novels in India attempted to create a sense of pan- Indian belonging.
Explain the following:
a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers
b) What actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical coloniser.
c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people.
d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.
Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increase in readers of the novel in eighteenth-century Europe.
Summarise the concern in both nineteenth-century Europe and India about women reading novels. What does this suggest about how women were viewed?
How were the stories and prose not new to India ? Give three examples. [CBSE Comp. (O) 2008]
"Novels were useful to different sectors of the society."Support your answer with suitable examples.
Or
Highlight any three contributions of novel to modern society. [CBSE 2014]
How did the novels play a significant role in awareness about the India's glorious past. [CBSE 2013]
Or
How did novels inspire the freedom fighters? Explain with two examples. [CBSE 2011]